If Murray Thomson wasn’t a pacifist you might call him a happy warrior. The moving force behind many worthy peace endeavours, he will soon turn 90.

More than 130 of his friends gathered recently in Ottawa to celebrate. There was a dinner with much good humour and music, some of it supplied by Thomson on his violin, but predictably the event was also a fund raiser and was preceded by a panel and discussion about the best way to get rid of all nuclear weapons.

Canadians for Nuclear Weapons Convention includes more than 600 Order of Canada recipients calling for the government to take leadership in a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

An American-based organization called Ploughshares Fund (no relative of Canada’s Project Ploughshares) estimates that there are about 19,000 nuclear weapons in the world. We know that nine countries have them, with Iran threatening to join the club.

Thomson, along with two other elders of the peace movement, has come up with an interesting new proposal. The three are recipients of the Order of Canada (OC), our most distinguished award for public service. Ernie Regehr is a Mennonite and the co-founder (with Thomson) of Project Ploughshares. Doug Roche is a former editor of Catholic newspapers, a Conservative MP between 1972 and 1984, Canada’s UN Ambassador for Disarmament between 1984 and 1989, and later an independent in the Senate. In 2011, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The three men have created an organization called Canadians for Nuclear Weapons Convention. They have convinced more than 600 other OC recipients to call upon the Canadian government to take a leading role in advocating for international negotiations to achieve a a verifiable treaty on the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. Among the OC recipients supporting this call are Margaret Atwood, Roméo Dallaire, Stephen Lewis, David Suzuki, Jean Vanier (and more than 500 others).

Thomson was in the airforce during WWII and has often said that Hiroshima and Nagasaki made him a pacifist and he has spent the years since then resisting militarism and working for peace.

Although Roche and Regehr were both at the birthday dinner, the talking was left to others, including members of Thomson’s immediate and extended family, friends, and those with whom he had worked.

Randy Weekes was a CUSO field worker along with Thomson in Thailand in the 1960s and '70s. “He had a great impact on my life,” Weekes said. “He touched and taught all of us.” Weekes referred to the influence that Thomson’s missionary parents and one of his uncles had upon their son. Weekes said the motto was “live so as to be missed” and added that is how Thomson has spent his life.

Andy Thomson, a nephew, said the Thomson family spent seven years in China as United Church missionaries and that Murray was one of seven siblings. “Uncle Murray has an extraordinary commitment to peace and nuclear disarmament. He never gives up.” He said that in addition to the great respect in which Thomson is held, he is also an attentive parent, grandparent and a favourite uncle in the extended family.

Thomson’s daughter Sheila Quarles said that her father’s stubborn resolve to “making a difference” is the key to his longevity. “He is inspired, disciplined, and fun loving. He does his stretches every morning. He laughs and tells silly jokes. He sings, he makes music, he meditates, and he plays games. He also has another motto, which is to always foster friendships.”

Thomson has a deeper appreciation than most about militarism. He was a student at the University of Toronto when the Second World War began. He enlisted in the air force and became a pilot although he never actually flew a combat mission. He was still in the military when, in 1945, the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. He has often said that Hiroshima and Nagasaki made him a pacifist and he has spent the years since then resisting militarism and working for peace.

A Quaker, Thomson has worked for Quaker-based organizations in addition to working for CUSO and co-founding Project Ploughshares. He is also a founder of Peace Brigades International and of Peace Fund Canada, a campaign aimed at allowing conscientious objectors to have their tax payments spent only for non-military purposes. His awards include the Order of Canada and the Pearson Peace Medal.

When it came his time to speak, Thomson said the he has “pondered the folly of nuclear weapons” ever since his undergraduate days at the University of Toronto more than 60 years ago. He cited Robert McNamara, a former US defence secretary, as saying that Americans and Soviets were lucky to avoid nuclear war in the 1960s. “It could happen at any time.” Thomson said. “We must abolish nuclear weapons.”

He also spoke of the importance of what he called “big ideas” in the effort to achieve disarmament. “If the NGOs want a world without war, then we have to work hard to organize it,” he said.

About Dennis Gruending

Dennis Gruending is an Ottawa-based author and former Member of Parliament. He is also a former director of information for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. His books include the biography, Emmett Hall: Establishment Radical and his latest book is Pulpit and Politics: Competing Religious Ideologies in Canadian Public Life, recently released by Kingsley Publishing Services of Calgary.
His blog can be found linked below.